The Benefits of Increased Ventilation in the Home

Create and maintain healthful indoor air quality with sufficient home ventilation.

Home ventilation is important for two reasons: It helps our mental state and removes toxins from the air in our homes. Mold spores, dust mites, chemicals, paint, carpet, furniture, smoke, fires, and cleaning products add pollutants into the air and require ventilation to escape the confines of your home. Pollutants build up and intensify when we close the cold winter air and hot summer air out. Even in the winter, it helps to open a window or two, just a crack, for five minutes of fresh air.

Home Ventilation Protects You from Living in Your Own Stink

Home ventilation protects you from inhaling high levels of carbon dioxide (CO2), cooking odors and chemicals lurking in everyday items such as personal hygiene products, cleaning products, laundry products, etc. New and existing energy-efficient homes require home ventilation to keep homeowners from living in their own “stink”! Not just any amount of mechanical ventilation will do either. To create and maintain healthful indoor air quality, ventilation must be sufficient.

Home ventilation is possible through non-mechanical means if you live in a moderate climate. With proper window placement, cross ventilation, and use of the stack effect, you can ventilate your home naturally. But as soon as windows and doors are shut to keep the cold air out in the winter or the hot air out in the summer, your home will need mechanical ventilation to create and maintain a healthy environment inside. The less often windows are opened, the tighter a house is sealed.

Your home’s need for fresh air varies according to how and where you live. The standard rule of thumb is for every one cubic foot of exhaled CO₂, about 80 cubic feet of fresh air needs to be brought into your home intentionally. If you and your family have a higher activity level, you’ll need to double that amount. Bathrooms, kitchens, laundry rooms and rooms with open fireplaces require even more ventilation because of a number of pollutants or excess moisture created in them. And if you’re a city mouse, your need for fresh air can be twice that of a country mouse.

4 Types of Home Ventilation Systems

There are four basic mechanical, whole-house ventilation systems to create and maintain healthy indoor air quality: exhaust, supply, balanced, heat recovery ventilators.

1. Exhaust ventilation

Exhaust-only ventilation is relatively inexpensive and simple to install. It works well in cold climates. Exhaust fans (kitchen, bathroom, and/or whole-house fans) tend to allow outside air to come in through any cracks or openings it can find due to the “depressurization” they cause in homes. Here in the Chicago area, where winter weather is more intense than it is in the summer, exhaust-only ventilation may do the job without inviting damage from moisture. But beware. Depressurization of a home can drive humid outdoor air into wall cavities where it can condense and cause major mold trouble.

Disadvantages of exhaust-only home ventilation:

• Can draw pollutants into living space
• Not appropriate for hot, humid climates
• Relies in part on random air leakage
• Can increase heating and cooling costs
• May require mixing of outdoor and indoor airto avoid drafts in cold weather
• Can cause back drafting in combustion appliances

2. Supply ventilation

Supply ventilation systems are also relatively inexpensive and simple to install. They draw clean outside air inside, usually through a supply vent that feeds into the return duct of a forced air heating system.

Advantages of supply ventilation include:

• Allows better control than exhaust systems
• Minimizes pollutants from outside living space
• Prevents back drafting of combustion gases from fireplaces and appliances
• Allows filtering of pollen and dust in outdoor air
• Allows dehumidification of outdoor air
• Works well in hot or mixed climates

Disadvantages of supply ventilation:

• Can cause moisture problems in cold climates
• Willnot temper or remove moisture from incoming air
• Can increase heating and cooling costs
• May require mixing of outdoor and indoor air to avoid drafts in cold weather

3. Balanced ventilation

Balanced ventilation systems are appropriate for all climates. They exhaust indoor air and bring in outdoor air in equal amounts. This keeps the pressure of the inside of a home relatively constant, although never perfect. Balanced ventilation takes a very tight house and good engineering. A balanced system often requires a powered heat recovery or energy recovery ventilator (HRV or ERV) to improve efficiency and pressure balance.

Disadvantages of balanced ventilation:

• Can cost more to install and operate than exhaust or supply systems
• Willnot temper or remove moisture from incoming air
• Can increase heating and cooling costs

4. Heat recovery ventilators (HRVs)

Heat-recovery ventilators (HRVs) are the gold standard for residential ventilation because they are the most effective and cost-efficient. In the winter, heat is transferred from the warm inside exhaust air to the fresh cold outside air supply which reduces heating costs. In the summer, the inside air cools the warmer supply air to reduce cooling costs.

HRVs are expensive to install but work well in any climate for ventilation purposes. To learn more about the cost-effectiveness of HRVs, especially in mild climates, seeAre HRVs Cost-Effective?

Our Blue Frost Heating & Cooling technicians have the expertise and experience needed to install them. Not all HVAC contractors do.

Energy recovery ventilation systems require more maintenance than other ventilation systems. To prevent deterioration of ventilation rates and heat recovery as well as mold and bacteria from developing on heat exchanger surfaces, energy recovery systems must be regularly maintained. Click here to schedule installation or maintenance of your energy recovery ventilation system today.

Here are the advantages and disadvantages of HRVs.

Advantages:

• Reduces heating and cooling costs
• Available as both small wall- or window-mounted models or central ventilation systems
• Cost-effective in climates with extreme winters or summers and high fuel costs

Disadvantages:

• Can cost more to install than other ventilation systems
• May not be cost-effective in mild climates
• May be difficult to find contractors with experience and expertise to install these systems
• Require freeze and frost protection in cold climates
• Require more maintenance than other ventilation systems

Controlled home ventilation systems with heat recovery are promoted and subsidized nowadays and promoted by Blue Frost Heating & Cooling. However, if they are not properly sized, installed and maintained, they can actually pose a health risk to you and your family. For that reason, it is important to have the knowledgeable and certified technicians of Blue Frost Heating & Cooling install and maintain your home ventilation system. Ask us about proper equipment choice, installation, and operation. Blue Frost Heating & Cooling will answer your questions so that you can make health-conscious choices about mechanical ventilation in your home.

If you’re clueless about home ventilation systems, visitGreenBuildingAdvisor encyclopedia for more information. Other great reads are:Ventilation Rates and Human HealthandHow Much Fresh Air Does Your Home Need?

Quit living in your own stink! Home ventilation may not be as glamorous as selling stylish kitchen and bath upgrades, but it can ensure your family’s long-term comfort and better health. Call Blue Frost Heating & Cooling at (630) 444-0860 to learn more about the importance of ventilation for your home today.

Blue Frost Heating & Cooling

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416 E. Wilson Street, Batavia, IL, 60510

504 E. Main Street, St. Charles, IL, 60174

Call (630) 444-0860; for emergencies, call (630) 444-0860